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Thunder Bay Chapter Two
Chapter Two One thing is absolutely certain, Northern Ontario can get COLD! Being at the head of Navigation on Lake Superior, Thunder Bay is notorious for getting slammed with lake-effect snows. It was a typical winter, and Kimberly Staunton was getting ready for school. The Chauffeur was driving her and Sybille Charbonneau to school. Of course, her mother was infuriated that she and Sybille had become such good friends. However, Kimberly had no concern for what her mother thought. For most of her life, Kimberly had very few friends, even in school, she had not been popular, although her father was big in city politics. From the moment that the Charbonneaus had moved into the mansion next to their own, Kimberly had a bond with Sybille. The two girls were continually together, always at lunch, or anywhere else, sharing their lives. Sybille shared with her about her life in Quebec City, and Kimberly was enthralled. Meanwhile, Constance was burning mad. Nobody seemed to think her opinion mattered anymore. Couldn't they see that the Staunton name was HUGE in Port Arthur?! She stormed around her boudoir, nobody in her family seemed to understand! Even her own MOTHER was impressed with the way the Charbonneaus had fit into the society of Port Arthur with such ease. "Why are you siding with them, Mother?" Constance screamed, "They're NOT like us! They don't have any pedigree whatsoever!" "Connie," her mother said, "I understand your anger, but you're wrong, quite wrong. They DO have pedigree, a very GOOD pedigree from what I can tell. Jean-Luc Charbonneau's ancestry comes from Count Frontenac himself. And from what I have seen of Sybille, she's a very polite and respectful young lady. Her friendship is doing Kimberly a world of good. Stefan and Christopher are also great friends. For once, I would agree with James, the Charbonneaus are making a VERY good impression here in Thunder Bay, and I think they have shown that they can be society approved, but still have a common touch!" "You mean to tell me that they are acceptable?!" Constance was appalled, "Did you see how that slattern, Angelique talked to me and my friends that night at the restaurant opening?!" Her mother sighed, "Connie," she said, a bit more sterner this time, "Angelique was right in telling you off. You had NO call to insult Kimberly or Malcolm. I talked with him when the party came back to the house. And, despite his mohawk and his leather outfit, he's a very sweet and caring person. He treats Kimberly like a man SHOULD treat a woman. And Kimberly clearly loves him. Her father likes him, and that is what matters most. And, as a matter of fact, I actually like him. I think he'll bring a splash of color into our bunch!" "That's not the POINT!" Constance screeched, "What about MY feelings?! Don't I count for anything anymore?!" Mrs. Salisbury was getting infuriated, she had spoiled Constance most of her life, and was now reaping the consequences for it. "First of all, you haughty madam," she said, "you need to get over yourself. That was always your biggest flaw, your snobbishness. You never had anything to do with those kids. You mainly had them brought up by nannies. You never even touched them when they were born! You stuck them in the arms of a servant and never thought of anything else. They turned out wonderfully, in spite of you! James had more of a hands-on parenting role than you did! Even I had more access to those two than you did. You yawned and ignored the fact when Christopher had chicken pox, and while he was in bed, you went to that dratted country club and gossiped and boozed all the time. His father and I had a hand in making sure he was ok. And when Kimberly nearly died of appendicitis and had to have an appendectomy, did you even BOTHER to come to the hospital?! No, of course not, because you had to be seen at that stupid cotillion at the country club. Your only daughter could have DIED, but that wouldn't have made one bit of difference to you. Your name and reputation is all you seem to care about!" "Oh, Mother," Constance sighed, "do we HAVE to go into this?!" "Yes, we do!" Mrs. Salisbury said angrily, "Someone has to make you see what you're doing! And that someone is me. I shouldn't have let James take you back. I should have just let him leave you to your own devices! You're toxic, Constance Ann, and that is all you ever will be!" "I should have known you would be on James' side," Constance moaned, "even my own mother has turned against me!" "Stop it with the pity party bit," Mrs. Salisbury snapped, "it doesn't wash with me, and you know it. All the damage you've done to your family, YOU did yourself. James has more common sense than you ever gave him credit for. And he is right, our family did NOT help him in his rise to political power. He did it with his OWN gumption and his ability. You only wanted the Staunton name to amplify our own. That is not a way that marriage works. You don't even love James! You only loved his name, money and social position! That is all you cared about. You don't even care anything about Christopher and Kimberly. They scarcely know anything about you. You sit on your royal derriere, and think the whole world revolves around you. I admit my fault in it, but I am disgusted with you!" "Why don't you examine your own conscience, Mother?" Constance snapped, "You and Father were dead set AGAINST amalgamation back in the day!" "Perhaps we were wrong," Mrs. Salisbury snapped back, "in fact, we KNOW we were wrong on it. Port Arthur's character wasn't destroyed. In fact, it was more than enhanced when the areas merged! Think about this, Constance, Port Arthur never had a City Hall, and Fort William gladly gave its own City Hall for the new merged city hall! Have you never stopped to think about that?" "Do you think I give a damn about that area of the city?!" Constance screamed, "Fort William is a town of losers! Port Arthur is the more refined!" "I cannot even TALK to you, Constance," her mother returned in fury, "but this I can do! You are to have your belongings packed, and you are to vacate James' house immediately!" Constance was stunned, "What?!" she gasped. "I talked to James this morning," Mrs. Salisbury continued, "and he and I agreed that you're a liability. By the time Kimberly and Sybille come back from school, you are to vacate the house. Kimberly is now the lady of the house, and you are not to have any say. I had James tell the staff to set your things on the curb. I'll be over in five minutes to get you and you're moving in with me. One thing is going to be made clear, my girl, your movements are going to be closely monitored. You're not going to be going to the country club every night and swilling with your snobby friends; you're going to toe the line and abide by MY rules, for if you step out of line, even by ONE inch, you're out on the streets!" "This is ridiculous," Constance sniffed, "I am a grown woman, and you're treating me like a child!" "Because you have been BEHAVING like a child," Mrs. Salisbury snapped, "I am going to treat you like one! Christopher and Kimberly have more maturity than anyone else. Now, get outside!" "How dare you!" Constance yelled, "You are turning your back on your own flesh and blood!" "No," Mrs. Salisbury snapped, "I've turned my back on your cruelty and your miserable misbehavior. You've never given a toss about what anyone else needed. It was always about you. How about what you did when your younger brother, Kyle, killed himself when he was sixteen?!" "Oh, god, woman," Constance seethed, "you're gonna disinter that again, ain't ya?!" "Yes, I am," Mrs. Salisbury snapped, "Kyle had been bullied by so-called 'friends' of yours his first two years in high school because he was gay. It was horrible when he died. Jumping off the Intercity Expressway overpass, thanks to your bullying! I mourned him when he died, your father mourned him, even your older sister, Cristine, mourned him, and so did your older brother, Lance; but did you?! Oh, no! You couldn't even be bothered! You were too busy swanning around and acting like a spoiled petulant princess to even CARE about what happened." "I won't stand for this...!" Constance sputtered. "All you ever wanted to do was marry into money," Mrs. Salisbury said coldly, "Cristine married a guy who wasn't wealthy, but was socially acceptable, and they are long happy. They're glad to be away from you, with them living in Toronto; Lance and his husband are living a fulfilled life in Montreal, but what good are YOU?! Nothing! All you do is glide around thinking you're something special, when you're NOT! You think because you are married into the Staunton family that you are a big society queen? Well, you're NOT! You're still the same spoiled stuck-on-herself little brat that I couldn't abide! I am outside now, get out here! We'll continue this in the car!" Constance slammed down the phone, and she walked down the grand stairs. The staff glared at her. Celeste glared hard at the woman. "Don't ever let me see you here again," she said coldly, "at least now, James can heal from your snobbery!" "Oh, whatever!" she snapped. Just as she said that, Kimberly came home, with Sybille at her side. "Well, well, well," she said coldly, "looks like your luck ran out!" "Shut up," Constance spat, and slapped Kimberly hard across the face, "you don't DARE talk back to me! I am still your mother!" Sybille was stunned. She looked coldly at Constance. "You have no shame," she said angrily, "slapping my best friend like that." "You have no call to say ANYTHING about her," Constance seethed, "I busted her in the face because she disrespected me!" "And when have YOU ever respected ANYONE else aside from your selfish self?" James came in from his den, furious at what Constance did. Kimberly bolted towards her dad, crying. "I don't have to answer to you!" Constance scoffed. "Well," A man's voice said, "I am still your older brother, and you have some explaining to do, little sister!" Everyone saw Lance Salisbury along with his husband, Craig Schreyer. Kimberly looked at him, tears falling down her face. "Uncle Lance, Uncle Craig," she sobbed. "James, what did she do to Kimmie?" Lance asked as he hugged his niece. "Apparently, she slapped her, because she told her a few home truths," James said, "it's all right, honey. You and Sybille go upstairs. I'll have Mrs. Foster send your dinner up. I'll call your folks, Sybille and let them know." "I'll do that, Monsieur," Sybille said, "you've got enough on your plate." "Thank you, Sybille," James said, "now, you, Constance, get out of here! I don't ever want to see your face here again. I'll inform my solicitor and I'll file divorce papers tomorrow." "I'll not let you get away with this," Constance screamed, "I'll contest it!" "And you'll lose," Mrs. Salisbury said as she and Lance carried Constance's bags to her car. "I'm not speaking to any of you," Constance spat childishly, "NONE of you!" Mrs. Salisbury came up to her son in-law. "Are you all right, Jim?" she asked. "Yes, Elspeth," he said, "but I think Kimberly needs you." "All right," she said. Kimberly ran to her grandmother's arms. "Gran," she sobbed. "Don't you worry, my darling," she said comfortingly, "your dad will be there, and so will your uncles." "That's right, cookie," Lance said kindly, "Craig and I are staying in Thunder Bay for a while, we're scouting for a new place to start our business, and Montreal is getting far too expensive." "You'll not stay in THIS house, Lance," Constance screamed, "not with that man you won't!" "I don't think you have any say in it anymore," James spat, "Celeste, go and set up a guest room for Lance and Craig. They will be staying here for a while." "Yes, sir," Celeste grinned, and she and a couple of maids went and set up a nice guest room for them. "I won't let you do this," Constance screamed. "Get out of my house," Kimberly screamed at her mother, "and don't you EVER come back! My uncle Kyle is more alive to me than you are!" Constance shot Kimberly a stone hard look. "I hope you are satisfied," she spat, "you threw your own mother out of her house, after ALL I've done for you!" "All YOU'VE done for me?!" Kimberly laughed in scorn, "Do me a favor! You've done NOTHING for me! Dad's done far more for me and Christopher than YOU ever did! He was a real father, you were NOTHING close to being a good mother!" "I'm LEAVING!" Constance screamed. "No, you're not," James said, "we're THROWING you out! And don't you EVER set foot here again, or I'll call the police!" Mrs. Salisbury grabbed Constance, "Get in that car, madam! Right now!" she snapped. "You won't get away with this!" Constance screamed, "I'll be back!" "No, you won't!" James said, "I am putting a restraining order on you. You're not allowed to be around this property!" "Oh go to hell!" Constance said acidly, "you all can burn in hell for throwing me out!" Just then, Christopher came in, "What's going on?" he asked. "They're throwing me out of my home," Constance wailed. Christopher looked straight at his mother, "Good!" he said in an iron voice, "I am glad! You're no mother to me!" "Et tu, Brute?" Constance said venomously. "Yeah, me too," Christopher said coldly, "after your appalling behavior at the L'Arc en Ciel's opening last night, I want nothing to do with you!" "Well!" Constance glared at James, "I hope you're happy! You've turned my own children against me!" "We considered our nannies more our mothers than you ever were," Christopher said snidely, "You think we wouldn't have gotten that?!" "And Mrs. Finneran raised us too," Kimberly said, wiping her eyes. Christopher rushed to his sister's side. "What did Mother do to you?" Christopher said, hugging her. "She slapped me," Kimberly admitted. "Get out, Constance," Christopher snapped, "you don't EVER slap my little sister. If you ever do that again, you're going to be facing abuse charges!" Elspeth Salisbury shoved Constance into the back seat. "Again, my dears," she said, "I am sorry that she has behaved the way she has over the years." "We'll help everyone heal, Mom," Lance said, "we'll see to that." "Thank you, son," Mrs. Salisbury smiled, "you know where I am if you need to reach me, Jim." "Thank you, Mom," James said. Mrs. Salisbury's car drove off, leaving the family quiet. The butler brought in Lance and Craig's bags, Kimberly and Sybille went upstairs, Sybille comforting her best friend, and Jim and Lance sat down and were drained. Christopher went upstairs to take a shower and go to bed. He and Stefan Charbonneau had a three-day shift at the crisis center that they were dreading, due to the holidays coming to an end. "I am so sorry, Jim," Lance said, "I never thought that Connie would be so dreadful. Cristine also says that she's sorry this happened." "Thanks, Lance," James said, "now, comes the hard part." "Not quite," Lance said, "we're all behind you. Mom's gonna make sure Constance stays away from here. Cristine and Steven are coming tomorrow to help out." And sure enough, the next day, Jim's other sister in-law, Cristine Hamilton and her husband, Steven, were in town. Lance had told her what had happened. Cristine was appalled at Constance's cold-hearted cruelty. "Don't you worry, Jimmy," Cristine said, "we've all got your back. Connie has had this coming to her for some time now." James broke down in tears. Cristine and Lance hugged him close, letting him cry. "That's right, sweetie," Cristine said, "let it all out. Now, we can begin to work. You've got Chris and Kim to think about now. Especially Kim. That's where I'll come in." After a few weeks, Cristine and Steven moved to Thunder Bay as well. They took a modern apartment in Fort William; and Steven got a new job at TBTel. Cristine got a job at City Hall. Lance and Craig opened their new business. Meanwhile, Constance was glaring at the walls of her old room. Her mother came in. "You brought this all on yourself," she lectured, "and now you're going to take the whirlwind for what you did!" "Oh, get out of here," Constance sneered. "Oh, by the way," she said, "I am going to be eating dinner at Jim's home tomorrow night. The cook will bring you your dinner on a tray. You're NOT to stir out of this room one moment, except to use the bathroom. You're barred from the Country Club, and you won't be welcomed in again. I cancelled your membership!" "You wicked bitch," Constance screamed, "you had no right to do that!" "Oh, I had EVERY right to do so," her mother seethed, "you are going to learn a lesson and I aim to see you LEARN it!" Mrs. Salisbury slammed the door and Constance threw a shoe at the door. She burned in anger. The next day, Kimberly and Sybille were at school. Classes were over and Kimberly and Sybille were sitting at the commons, talking before the tables were put up. Laura had not been in school for some weeks, and rampant speculation was flying about what happened. Louise Ansley and her friend, Olivia Bourne, were sitting with the two, and they were speculating on what had happened. "Allison Novak says that she was expelled from school," Olivia said. "How can Allison know that," Louise said, "unless her parents are on the school board?" "I think her mother is," Kimberly said, "but I am not sure." "How can that be possible?" Sybille asked, "nobody has said anything to anyone about it." "And more likely they won't," Kimberly said practically, "you think the administration would tell us anything about something like this? There's all sorts of red tape that they have to contend with. If they told us, they would have done so by now, and personally, I couldn't care less about her. If she's been busted, then that's on her! Not us." "Ah, oui," Sybille said, her French accent evident, "c'est vrai. Kim's right. If they had said anything to us, they'd have done so already." Just then, Malcolm Anderson came up to Kimberly, his girlfriend. He was preparing for his work-study. "Kim," he said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your downtime, but I found out what happened to Laura." Kimberly looked at him, "You know what happened?" she asked. "Yeah," Malcolm said, "she was expelled." The girls were stunned. "Expelled?" Sybille asked, "When was this?" "Yesterday," Malcolm said, "I happened to be doing my job as a runner, when Ms. Lansing, the secretary, told me what happened. I saw Laura storm out of there, and she was being yelled at by her father up and down the county!" Kimberly smiled, "And I bet she has to return all her textbooks and laptop and the like," she said. "She actually raised a fit about that one," Malcolm said, "especially about the laptop!" "That's stealing school equipment," Sybille said, horrified, "won't she be charged?" "Of course she should be," Louise said, "but I highly doubt that she will." "Not quite," Olivia said, "look! It's HER!" Laura gave the assembled group an evil glare. She was holding the precious laptop. A sour look was on her face. Her father, Jeff Garcey, was behind her. He was furious at his daughter. "Well, go ahead and gloat," Laura snapped, "I got expelled!" "Glad to hear it from the horse's mouth," Kimberly said coldly, "only in your case, it's the OTHER end!" Laura sneered, "I hate you," she spat at Kimberly. "Well, that makes us even," Kimberly said, "I don't much like you either!" Laura stormed off to the Principal's office. The screaming was clearly heard. Laura screeched that she had every right to have that laptop, it didn't matter that it was school property! The principal ordered her to give it back, Laura refused. She would be forced to pay full price for the laptop if she insisted on keeping it. "I don't have to," Laura screamed, "my father will make sure you suffer for this!" "I already spoke to your father," Mr. Lawson, the principal, said, "and you WILL be paying full price for that laptop, and if you don't pay, you will be banged up for theft of school property!" "FINE!" she screamed, "I'll pay your god-damned price for your laptop!" She flung two thousand dollars on the Principal's desk. "There, you money-grubbing bastard," she spat, "count it, I ain't short-changing you." The Principal counted all the money, it was all there. "Good," he said coldly, "now, you can get the hell out of my school and NEVER come back!" "I'll see you lose your job!" Laura spat, "I'll fix it so you will NEVER be a principal again!" Laura grabbed her precious laptop and stormed out of the school. "Go to hell, the lot of you," Laura shot at the rest of the gawping students, "you all are useless. The whole boiling lot of you are useless as HELL!" She stormed out of the door, and never looked back. "Well, she's out of our hair for now," Sybille said, "but she's not gonna give up on making my life miserable." "Or she won't give up on anyone of us," Kimberly said. "We're going to handle her," Sybille said with resolve, "there's more of us than there is of her!" "Rumor has it she's going to a private school," Olivia said, "and she's become quite the stuck up bitch!" "I really don't care," Louise said, "that bitch is gone and we're better off for it. Let's go home." Kimberly and Sybille went to the limo waiting outside; Louise and Olivia went off in their own car. The day was quite eventful. Category:Thunder Bay Episodes